# Crows: Best Way To Attract Them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502 "2017-02-10T22:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/21 "2017-02-11T15:54:54Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Honestly, put anything out there you do not want them to eat, and they will come eat it. > > The silly things come and eat with my ducks and chickens, some times they will attempt to steal an egg, but i let them have one if the chickens dont chase them off of it, from 60 or more chicken and duck eggs a week i wont miss a few. > > They seem to like the chicken feed, and corn on the cob, and cabbage, and shredded carrots Yeah, they’re scavengers and carrion eaters. I saw one snacking on a pile of dog barf yesterday. Always had an affinity for corvids; ravens and magpies are common in Alaska, where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/22 "2017-02-11T16:02:10Z")
We feed the deer and turkeys shelled corn. Whatever they do not eat, the crows clean up. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/23 "2017-02-11T17:51:13Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > What prompted this? e-mail ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/24 "2017-02-11T19:16:22Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > e-mail Nice to know… I was simply curious, because your statements were completely out of context and inappropriate for what had been posted. Must have been one heck of an email. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/25 "2017-02-11T19:49:30Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > I can tell no one here has learned a thing. It was a legitimate question, in the correct section, but what the hell, right? > > One will always encounter a piece of shit who will not even take the trouble to let someone know it’s a joke. > > As I said, no one’s learned a fucking thing. **Moderator Note** **Quasimodem** , I’m glad to see you posting again, but this post is entirely out of line for this forum. I don’t see anything in previous posts that might have prompted this, and even if it was provoked by an email it should have been responded to privately. Please consider carefully what you post here. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/26 "2017-02-11T19:52:34Z")
Forgot the rules, I apologize. Q ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/27 "2017-02-11T19:56:44Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Forgot the rules, I apologize. > > Q Apology accepted. Just be careful in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/28 "2017-02-11T20:16:02Z")
Neighbour has a big bucket of water standing out in a quiet place. Crows come to that water to soften hard dry crusts of bread, and sometimes they leave pieces of a prey in the water, Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/29 "2017-02-11T20:35:45Z")
I’m going to move the feeder from that old bench swing set to a nearby magnolia tree soon. I’m thinking the birds can’t get their footing well enough on the smooth iron, even though the feeder itself has rungs all around it. Today I also put out some scrap meat and a metal bowl filled with water. Guess I need to keep that bowl filled all the way. I wouldn’t want anyone falling in. Unless they’re way early (while we’re still asleep) I haven’t heard or seen any of my crow buddies yet. It may be that I’ll have to “prove” myself much the way I did here with my very first post asking what the words were that end in “gry”, which caused me untold heartache from some veteran Dopers who may have thought I was trolling. 🙂 So this is day two and I put out those Wild Hog Sausage scraps which, if the weather were warmer would probably get rancid after a few days. I looked up the thread mentioned earlier in _this_ one, and a Doper added the witticism, “Quoth The Raven, ‘Eat My Shorts’.” 🙂 I hope that wasn’t the reason he was banned! Q ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/30 "2017-02-12T07:22:02Z")
Q: Your email inspired comment threw me off track, as I was about to reply to your wonderful (previous) posts. How about a _MASS_ murder?🙂 For the past two weeks, we have been inundated by crows here. _THOUSANDS_ of them. They begin to amass towards sundown in one spot with raucous crow talk, then, break up into smaller groups of perhaps one hundred each to roost for the night in nearby trees behind our house. We have lived on a ridge overlooking a small Appalachian town and have never experienced this “invasion” before. Each evening, it actually sounds like a train wreck for awhile… Like you, I’ve wondered over the years how to befriend a crow or two. Now, with hordes of them at my doorstep, I’m not so sure… Per your blog, I hope You and your Wife are doing well. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/31 "2017-02-12T07:34:58Z")
Dammit, missed the edit timeout again. Should have said: “We have lived on a ridge overlooking a small Appalachian town\*\* for 30 years…\*\*” ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/32 "2017-02-12T08:10:32Z")
My advice? Be patient. Nature has a way of evening things out. In the words of the great George Carlin, “The Earth will be fine. It’s the PEOPLE who will be screwed.” [cleaned up a bit] And don’t write me any more false ID e-mails either, people. I’m tired of this crap. If you want to know something, ask me in your real DOPE name OUT LOUD or leave it alone. I’m busy painting and writing and playing songs. I don’t have TIME for this. Thanks for understanding. Quasimodem ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/33 "2017-02-12T09:09:52Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > My advice? Be patient. Nature has a way of evening things out.Quasimodem I’m counting on it. My advice to you for attracting crows… Stale bread and whole shell peanuts + patience. Maybe that is the source of my problem right now… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/34 "2017-02-12T16:01:23Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > In the words of the great George Carlin, “The Earth will be fine. It’s the PEOPLE who will be screwed.” Or as I’ve put it over the years, ‘It’s not the End of the World. I’t just the End of Us.’ (I didn’t know Carlin said something similar.) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/35 "2017-02-13T02:05:17Z")
I leave cat food out for some outdoor cats and the crows are always eating it. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/36 "2017-02-13T16:52:10Z")
We used to hunt crows. We used a few crow decoys, an owl decoy and a mouth call along with some shelled corn. Once we got one close, and got the call going, we’d have a respectable sized murder in no time. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/37 "2017-02-13T19:31:45Z")
I’d love to attract crows to my yard as well. I have three feeders that attract cardinals, bluejays, pigeons and all kinds of wild birds while the crows hang out and squawk in the trees in the neighbor’s yard. I know they can’t be afraid of my old cat (none of the birds are). What do they have against \*my \*yard, I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/38 "2017-02-14T21:08:14Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Do crows have the ability to mimick human speech like a Minah? Yes. My dad had a crow that could say “Bob crows hot.” > [@Can Crows really talk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-crows-really-talk/142153/25): > > I even saw one site that mentioned a Blue Jay that was able to talk, although it could say only one word. I don’t know about talking - ours never learned it. But they are pretty good mimics. Our crow and blue jay would mimic each other. The blue jay would sound like a crow way across the yard up in a tree, and our crow would sound like a 40 lb blue jay. > [@Quasimodem](#): > > So this is day two and I put out those Wild Hog Sausage scraps which, if the weather were warmer would probably get rancid after a few days. Crows are scavengers, rancid helps them find it. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/39 "2017-02-14T21:45:23Z")
I like crows too and use to put out bread for them , they started to recognize me when I was taking my dog out . A crow would wait on a light pole for me and when I went outside the crow would start cawing to let the others crows food was coming , I would have to run back inside and get some bread sometimes. A neighbor told me that the crows were waking her up at 5:30 AM by cawing so I had to stop feeding them. Crows like to wash their meals off before eating it . I kept finding body parts of animals in my bird bath and had no idea who or what was doing this until someone told me on another forum . I had seen crows dropping body parts in the birdbath ! :eek: So when it get warmer out side up a bowl with water and hang birdfeeder near it so the crows will know they have a place to wash their meals. You could start picking roadkills and leaving it in your yard for the crows. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502/40 "2017-02-15T12:00:33Z")
If you have enough crows in your yard, chances are you’ll see one with one or a few white feathers. The first one I saw freaked me out, but looking around online, I saw it wasn’t too unusual. I’ve also seen a piebald deer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-best-way-to-attract-them/779502.md?page=3)